Avalon airport control tower unmanned, says aviator

The World Today - Tuesday, 21 August , 2007 12:35:00

Reporter: Jane Cowan

ELEANOR HALL: To Melbourne now, and the prospect of flying into Melbourne's second airport, Avalon, already prompts groans from travellers who might pay less for their Jetstar flights but face a long drive to the city once they touch down.

But travellers to the airport near Geelong might be risking more than inconvenience if aviator Dick Smith is right.

Mr Smith is warning that the control tower at the airport is often unmanned, and he says Qantas pilots refuse to land there unless the tower is manned, but that Jetstar pilots can't flex the same kind of industrial muscle.

In Melbourne, Jane Cowan reports.

JANE COWAN: Dick Smith expects travellers to Melbourne's Avalon Airport would be horrified to know it's operating without a manned control tower.

DICK SMITH: There's a tower there, but there's actually no one in the tower when Jetstar operates, that to save money I've worked out it's probably about 50 cents a ticket, Qantas-Jetstar, even though Qantas made a billion dollars profit, don't man the tower. So if you have someone like the Prime Minister fly in, the towers is manned with air traffic controllers, or even if the Japanese use it for some flight training the tower is manned. But or the entire Qantas-Jetstar operation there's simply no one in the tower.

JANE COWAN: He says there's not even a radio operator to confirm that pilots are set to the correct frequency.

DICK SMITH: Recently an Airbus took off and gave all the calls on the wrong frequency, so that's incredibly risky.

He says Qantas pilots won't fly into Avalon, even on maintenance flights, without the tower being staffed, but Jetstar pilots can't wield as much industrial power.

DICK SMITH: If you're a captain on a Jetstar plane, one allegedly rang me last week, that's what got it all going again, and said, "Dick, you've got to do something". And I said, "Look, you do it, you're the captain", and he said, "Look, I'll lose my job if I say anything". He said, "I'm a captain from a Jetstar plane", but he wouldn't give his name because he'd lose his job.

Air Services Australia runs the control tower. It wouldn't go on tape, but a spokesman said the operation meets with standards laid down by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA).

Neither CASA nor the Australian Transport Safety Bureau would comment.

But Avalon Airport's General Manager, Tim Anderson, admits the tower is not routinely manned.

TIM ANDERSON: Look, under some circumstances it is manned, for sure, but generally speaking it's controlled out of radar, out of Tullamarine.

JANE COWAN: Dick Smith says the radar from Tullamarine reaches Avalon, but not to low levels, meaning that Jetstar airbuses are flying blind for parts of the descent and take-off.

DICK SMITH: Everywhere in the world, I've flown in every continent, and even in Africa, probably the most dangerous country to fly, I'd never yet been to an airport that has an airline service and not someone at the airport to give local weather conditions and local traffic.

JANE COWAN: But Jetstar's Simon Westaway isn't worried.

SIMON WESTAWAY: Jetstar is extremely satisfied with the existing facility at Avalon Airport.

JANE COWAN: Dick Smith says, though, that that radar from Melbourne doesn't actually cover the aircraft at all levels, so there are parts of the descent where they're actually flying blind.

SIMON WESTAWAY: Well, they're not flying blind, and we're not going to get over-emotive about this. As part of the Qantas Group we have our own safety footprint within our organisation, you know, we're very satisfied with the way that Avalon Airport is prepared.

JANE COWAN: Dick Smith says that this wouldn't happen anywhere else in the world, that commercial jets are landing without having anyone on the ground who can give them even local weather conditions.

SIMON WESTAWAY: Well, we've got a … we utilise the expertise which is at Melbourne Airport. I want listeners to be assured that as part of the Qantas Group we wouldn't even be considering using an airfield, let alone growing services in an airfield if we weren't completely comfortable with the overall safety footprint.